Aeon418 said:
Crowley could have tried to tie it all up in one sequence by keeping Aries with Heh and Aquarius with Tzaddi. But I see no evidence of Aries symbolism in Atu XVII. Nor do I see any Aquarian traits in Atu IV. So an oscillating double loop is what we end up with.
That flip flop is what makes it so dynamic, making it almost as though both cards occupy both paths
simultaneously... which connects to Michael's...
That sounds interesting! Elaboration requested.
Keep in mind that I often talk out of my ass making grand statements, and any serious Crowley scholar like Aeon would (and probably should) scoff at my efforts. The tracing back to the BoL I mentioned is based only on my own perverse scheme of mixing things up at will (although probably not at Will). When I was studying this, I sought to bend my mind to every possible possibility. It ain't pretty, but it's pretty good.
If we assume that the two cards can be interchanged, in essence, the Emperor is
physically between Chochma and Tiphareth but
spiritually between Netzach and Yesod, then we can start to play games. To start with, it depends on who's who. Chochma can represent the general, all-encompassing Will. With the Star
spiritually connecting Chochma to Tiphareth, we have Love under Will, and it is actually there, right under the general Will.
Then, remember that Nuit is "divided for Love's sake," and division and love lead to the obvious Lovers. Binah is divided by the Lovers in order to experience separation and reconstitution, and so the Star, in its spiritual aspect opposite the Lovers, fulfills this duality.
Moving on, "Every man and every woman is a star" possibly refers to the duality outlined above, a hint of 0=2.
4. Every number is infinite; there is no difference: The placement ultimately doesn't matter, it the message behind it that matter.
12. Come forth, o children, under the stars, & take your fill of love!: Possibly the Lovers basking under the Star(s)?
I suppose you get the picture? One can go on to find similar justifications for the Emperor being where he is and on the complimentary path. Again this is all my own mind games, but that's what it's all about. I could go on and subvert the entire Book of Law this way, but I guess you get where my opinion is coming from.